Exploring Public Reactions to Individuals’ Substance Misuse Recovery Journeys on TikTok

Background: Social media has become a space for sharing personal experiences and shaping public opinion. This study explored how people respond to substance misuse recovery journeys shared on TikTok. Methods: The researchers collected 3583 comments from 350 TikTok videos under the hashtags #wedorecover, #recovery, and #sobertok using a scraper tool. A discourse analysis categorized comments into Narrative Strategies, Rhetorical Strategies, Linguistic Features, and Power Relationships, each with subcategories revealing public perceptions of substance use and recovery. A correlation analysis was also conducted to examine the role of emojis across narrative and linguistic features. Results: Most comments (94%) expressed support or positivity toward recovery videos. The heart emoji was the most common (93.35% of all emojis), symbolizing connection, encouragement, and solidarity. Four themes emerged reflecting public attitudes: encouragement and positive messaging, acknowledgment of struggle, the culture of sharing, and the influence of broader social narratives. Conclusions: These results provide insight into public responses to recovery content on TikTok, suggesting that peer support may be facilitated through the platform’s algorithmic design. While TikTok shows promise as a supportive digital space, further research is needed to understand its broader implications for substance use recovery support.